Twin films are films with the same, or very similar, plot produced or released at the same time in two different studios. The phenomenon can result from two or more production companies investing in similar scripts around the same time, resulting in a race to distribute the films to audiences. Some attribute twin films to industrial espionage, the fact of filmmakers moving between studios, or that the same screenplays are sent to several film studios. Another explanation is that films often deal with topical issues, such as comets, volcano eruptions, reality TV, terrorist attacks or significant anniversaries, resulting in some sort of multiple discovery but in film.
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Producer Bingham Ray recalls a conversation where the screenwriter of the 2006 Truman Capote biopic Infamous phoned to announce that his script had been finished. Ray said "I know, I've got it on my desk!" before realising that he actually had the screenplay to Capote, a biopic by a different writer.
Examples
Noted examples of twin films are included in this list:
Other meanings
The term "twin films" has also been used for films produced by the same production company with the purpose of telling the same story from two different points of view:
It has also been used for films produced with the purpose of making the same film in two different languages: